The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Doug Allan: Wild Images – Wild Life
Birnam Arts Centre, Dunkeld, July 21
When it was reported last week that a giant iceberg twice the size of Luxembourg has broken away from an ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula and is now adrift in the Weddell Sea, it was not much of a surprise to freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman Doug Allan.
The Fife-born 66-year-old first visited the polar regions in 1976 and during the 41-years since has witnessed the effects of climate change, including the impact that global tourism and human lifestyles continue to have on the planet.
But while he’ll be exploring the challenges during his illustrated talk in Birnam tonight – from which he hopes younger members of the audience might be inspired to “make a difference” – he insists it won’t all be doom and gloom.
“The talk is called Wild Images, Wild Life and will be re-capping on my career and how I got into wildlife,” explains the Stirling University marine biology graduate who combined his love of nature with a passion for diving.
“I’ll be giving a behind the scenes look at things like the polar bear coming out of the den shot I did for the BBC but inevitably I will be talking about the challenges of climate change, because the big changes that are happening in the environment are not a good sign.”
Now based in Bristol, Doug has happy memories of the Birnam area. He learned to dive at the Hermitage, near Dunkeld, as a young man and is pleased his talk will support the Birnam Arts Centre and the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of Lowes reserve.
It’s his experience of working around the world, however, which will feature most prominently in his talk.
Doug’s big break came in 1976 when he first went to work as a research diver on the British Antarctic Survey station at Signy Island in the South Orkneys.
The job entailed helping the scientists to carry out their underwater studies. It was the start of his fascination with ice that lasts to this day.
Over the following 10 years until 1985, he spent four winters and nine summers “down south”, and was awarded the Fuchs Medal, then the Polar Medal, for his work.
His career took a new direction when the BBC bought Emperor Penguin footage from him for their series Birds for All Seasons.
Since then, he has returned frequently to the poles, with a string of high profile award-winning films for major TV networks worldwide including The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet and Frozen Planet.
He has made more than 70 filming trips, including on-screen firsts of orcas attacking grey whales off California, polar bears trying to capture belugas in Arctic Canada, and killer whales knocking seals off ice floes in Antarctica.